Aloha native gets peek at Lily

Oregon Zoo's newest resident is 300 pounds of energy

At more than 300 pounds, Lily, the newborn Asian elephant at the Oregon Zoo, has been attracting crowds for days at the Oregon Zoo, as spectators hope to catch a glimpse of her short trunk and gangly legs.

But one Tigard woman got a first-hand look at the great dane-sized baby elephant on Friday, before the big crowds were allowed inside.

Lisa Finster won an online competition naming the exact date and time the young Lily would be born.

I saw it on Facebook, and thought, Why not? Finster said outside the elephant enclosure. A sign on the enclosures front door read, Pachyderm pending.

No one  not even the elephant keepers  knew when the baby would arrive.

Elephants, with their 22-month gestation, can give birth anytime within a two-month window.

Keepers slept at the zoo for weeks as they waited for the youngster to arrive.

Finsters prediction of Nov. 28 at 2:45 a.m. was within 26 minutes.

You were right on, elephant curator Bob Lee joked with Finster on Friday. I wish you would have called me. You could have saved me a lot of sleepless nights.

Finsters secret for elephant success was simple, she said.

I figured everyone would want to be asleep, Finster said, strolling through the Oregon Zoo in Portland. Thats when it would happen.

In truth, Finster said, it was just a lucky guess.

For awhile I forgot what day I put down. I thought I was way off, and then I got an email saying that I won, she said.

Finster, who grew up in Aloha, has spent her life visiting the Oregon Zoo.

This is my zoo, she said proudly. Ive been coming here for as long as I can remember.

As a teenager, she volunteered as a ZooTeen, working with the reptile exhibits.

Ive watched this place grow and develop, Finster said.

Lily, oblivious to Finster or the other people watching, rolled around in sawdust and attempted to pick up a large branch with her trunk.